


The Weather Outside is Frightful

by GallifreyanFairytale



Category: Rise (TV 2018)
Genre: Hopeful Ending, M/M, Post-Canon, my second oneshot about them in two days, why am i like this, wow i sure am trash for these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 07:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14996276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GallifreyanFairytale/pseuds/GallifreyanFairytale
Summary: based on a prompt i saw on instagram: “I drive to school and you walk and I drive past you every day and it’s below freezing and you’re still walking please just get in the car I’ll drive you”





	The Weather Outside is Frightful

**Author's Note:**

> just a quick fyi: temperature is mentioned in this fic and i thought i should clarify it is in Fahrenheit to avoid any confusion

Winters in Stanton ranged from mild with only a thin layer of snow barely covering the grass during December and January to every day from November 1 to March 31 being frigid with temperatures often dipping below twenty  _without_ the windchill factored in and snow that only seemed to grow higher as the season went on. There was no way to predict what would happen, you just had to wait and find out.

 

This year, it was somewhere in the middle, leaning slightly towards the colder, harsher, winters. The wind was the worst part of the whole thing. Without the wind, the weather was bearable, but once the wind started blowing, no one wanted to step outside if it could be helped.

 

Simon hated driving on icy roads, but he hated riding the bus even more, so he just dealt with it. The mornings hadn’t been so bad lately. Sure, they were cold, but the wind didn’t pick up until midday so at least Simon didn’t have to deal with snow blowing everywhere and making it hard to see.

 

And with the lack of snow clouding his vision, he could clearly see Jeremy as he passed him every morning. The boy was always bundled up in a winter coat, his head facing down, watching his feet as they moved along the sidewalk. And every day, Simon forced his hands to stay in place on the steering wheel and drive straight past him. The last thing he needed was to be in close quarters with Jeremy anyways. He’d finally been able to admit his feelings to himself (and maybe sort of Lilette), but that didn’t mean he could act on them. He couldn’t do anything that could possibly expose himself to his father.

 

It was a particularly cold morning when Simon gave in. Fat snowflakes were pouring out of the clouds and the wind was pushing them in all directions, mixing them with snow that was supposed to be staying on the ground and blowing it across the roads (and into Simon’s windshield). Simon’s car’s thermometer told him is was ten degrees, and it wasn’t factoring in the windchill. When Simon passed Jeremy walking towards the high school, he pulled over. Before he could reconsider, Simon opened his door and was met by a blast of wind that had probably come directly from the North Pole. “Jeremy!”

 

Jeremy stopped walking and looked back at Simon.

 

“It’s too cold to be walking to school! I’ll drive you the rest of the way!”

 

“I’m fine!” Jeremy called back.

 

“I’m serious, it's ten degrees without windchill. Get in the car!”

 

Jeremy hesitated for a few moments before he decided to just do as Simon had told him. He climbed into the passenger seat as Simon shut his door and turned the heat up. It was bitterly cold out there. How had Jeremy walked so far in that weather?

 

“Thanks,” Jeremy muttered as he held his hands up to the warm air rushing out of the vent.

 

“No problem.” Simon began to drive again. It gave him an excuse to not look at Jeremy, at least, since he really needed to keep his eyes on the road. “It’s supposed to be like this all week,” Simon said once the wind had died down a little bit.

 

Jeremy signed. “I know.”

 

Simon knew it was a bad idea, but he couldn’t just leave Jeremy to walk to school in weather like this every morning. “I could, uh, pick you up if you wanted? Your house isn’t that far from mine.”

 

“You don’t have to do that,” Jeremy said, but it sounded like an automatic response.

 

“Well I don’t want you getting hypothermia because you have to walk to school.” Simon spared a quick glance over at Jeremy before his eyes returned to the road. “It’s not that big of a deal, really. I’d just have to leave a few minutes earlier.”

 

Jeremy looked down at his lap. “You sure you’re okay taking me?”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

“Okay. Thanks.”

 

The two remained silent until they entered the school building, and even then, they only exchanged quiet goodbyes. And despite still feeling a little chilled from walking out in the cold for so long, Jeremy’s chest felt very warm and tingly.

 

\---

 

Simon left for school a little earlier than usual the next day, but his parents didn’t question it. His mom was too busy helping Emma get ready and his dad was too busy getting ready for work to notice such a small difference in time, apparently.

 

“Thanks again for driving me to school,” Jeremy said as sat down in Simon’s car. “I really appreciate it. Like _really_. Like, it’s been so cold lately, and I want you to know that this means a lot to me.” Jeremy wasn’t expecting Simon to give a very wordy response, but the other boy did look over at him and smile.

 

“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could save you from the cold.”

 

Jeremy was still grinning at that response several minutes after Simon had begun driving. It was a good thing Simon was very intent on watching the road.

 

The rest of the drive was silent, but it was a comfortable silence. Music was playing quietly from the radio, but the tune was so soft that Jeremy gave up on trying to figure out any of the songs. Jeremy figured things would go as they had the previous day, with no more talking save goodbyes when they had to go opposite directions once inside the school. But as Jeremy made a move to open the door once the car was parked, Simon interrupted him.

 

“Wait.”

 

Jeremy turned and looked at Simon. “What?”

 

“I…” Simon hesitated, “I just wanted to make sure you know I don’t, like, hate you or anything since we haven’t talked much since the show. I’ve just been busy lately.”

 

“It’s okay,” Jeremy assured him. They had sort of tried to patch things up a bit between them, but their friendship (if it could even be called that) was rocky at best. Simon had admitted to Jeremy that he’d kissed him back in the parking lot and _almost_ come out, but Jeremy thought Simon might still have a ways to go before he could accept himself enough to label his feelings, and that was okay. Jeremy wasn’t going to push him.

 

\---

 

Simon had been driving Jeremy to school for nearly a week before either of them opened up again. Simon was taking Jeremy home from school as well that day, so they were sitting in Simon’s car in the school parking lot, waiting for it to clear out a bit.

 

“I’m sorry,” Simon said after several minutes of silence between the two.

 

“For what?”

 

Simon shrugged. “I’m sure I probably did something stupid to you that I haven’t apologized for.”

 

“Oh, okay. You’re forgiven.” Jeremy waited a couple moments before adding, “You never answered my question, you know.”

 

“What question?”

 

“Before I kissed you in the parking lot.”

 

Oh. _That_ question. Did Simon feel anything for Jeremy? Simon sighed. “You’re right, I never answered. I was too scared of the answer.”

 

“Was?”

 

“I’m a lot less scared now,” Simon admitted. “I mean, I’m still terrified, but not near as much as I was when you kissed me.”

 

“So… you gonna answer?” Jeremy shot a sideways glance at Simon.

 

Simon was quiet for a bit before finally responding with, “Yes. I did feel something for you then, and I still feel something for you now. It’s just something I can’t exactly act on, because if my father were to find out…” Simon let his voice trail off. He didn’t really want to finish the thought, and by the look on Jeremy’s face, he didn’t really need to.

 

Simon cleared his throat. “I like you, Jeremy. I didn’t want to admit it before, but… I guess I’m ready now. I always knew deep down, but I was scared of what admitting that to anyone, even myself, could mean.”

 

Jeremy reached over and placed his hand on top of Simon’s. “It’s okay to be scared. I was scared when I first figured out I was gay, and my parents have always been pretty accepting. I can’t even begin to imagine how scared you felt, and I’m sorry for kissing you in the parking lot that day. But… you did kiss back.”

 

Simon nodded. “I did. That’s what scared me most.”

 

“Does it… still scare you now?”

 

“No,” Simon’s response ended up coming out as a whisper. “What scares me now is my dad finding out.”

 

“He won’t,” Jeremy said, even though there was no way he could promise that.

 

Simon looked over at Jeremy, finally making eye contact with him. He knew Jeremy was just trying to make him feel less scared, but that was okay. It’s not like he could do anything about Simon’s father. “I don’t know if I can be anything more than friends with you because, like I said, I’m still kind of terrified. But I would like to be friends again. Like, _real_ friends, not just acquaintances who smile at each other awkwardly in the hallway.”

 

Jeremy nodded. “I’d like that too. And if you decide being more than friends doesn’t terrify you so much… I like you too, Simon. Like, _a lot_. But we can just take it one step at a time. Is that okay?”

 

“Yeah. That sounds pretty great, actually.”

 

The two boys grinned at each other for several seconds longer than they really needed to before Simon had to pull his hand out from under Jeremy’s and begin the drive to Jeremy’s house. He desperately hoped he could open himself up to the idea of a boyfriend, but even just friends with Jeremy was more than Simon deserved.

 


End file.
